AEW Articles - Page 45

For a time, it looked like Cesaro was going to be the face of Max Dupri’s Maximum Male Models on WWE‘s SmackDown. It looked like the “Swiss Superman” would finally return to the company that made him a mainstream darling, and be afforded the sort of A+ talker that had largely eluded him in Vince […]

AEW is notorious for continuously adding talent despite its loaded and crowded roster. Tony Khan’s relentless recruiting has paid off this past month, however. Many AEW stars have been forced out of action because of injury. The company was forced to crown an interim AEW World Champion in the wake of CM Punk’s injury after […]

Danhausen is a rascal. Though he’s clearly coded as a babyface both via his presentation, the tunnel he comes out of, and the reactions of his adoring fanbase, Danhausen has consistently found ways to get into other people’s business during his time in AEW, whether that’s interjecting into the Beach Break match between Adam Cole […]

When news broke that Christian Cage was going to address the fans assembled in the Little Ceasers Arena, not to mention those watching from home, on AEW Dynamite, it didn’t seem like things were going to go particularly well for Jungle Boy, who has been absent for two weeks with an injury. As it turns […]

After having “97.5 percent” of its rights at Forbidden Door, Tony Khan pulled through and Orange Cassidy finally debuted his new theme at AEW‘s Blood and Guts, with “Where is my Mind” by Pixies being officially replaced by “Jane” the song by Jefferson Starship known most notably for being featured in the film Wet Hot […]

After already saying goodbye to one of their own founders, Stu Grayson, earlier this year, the Dark Order is down one member more after Alan Angels, the occasional masked fifth member of the unit, has failed to secure a new, long-term contract with AEW according to Will Washington of Fightful. Though Angels was reportedly offered […]

After tearing down the “Forbidden Door” at a pay-per-view literally called Forbidden Door, AEW is on a roll. They’ve got a new interim champion, a number of new feuds raring to go, and have booked of their biggest televised bout of the year, Blood and Guts, set to take place on free television, broadcast live […]

After turning a legitimate Match of the Year candidate with Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door – seriously, it was that good – Orange Cassidy isn’t about to rest on his laurels and take another extended break from AEW action. No, now that OC is back to full strength, Tony Khan has booked the promotion’s (basically) […]

Many a wrestler in both AEW and NJPW has taken credit for being the Forbidden Door. While Hiroshi Tanahashi came up with the phrase, Jon Moxley has called himself the Forbidden Door, as has Tony Khan in his weirdly charming Impact Wrestling commercials, and Jay White, ever one for modesty, took credit for pretty much […]

While Forbidden Door is officially finished, the afterglow of the AEW x NJPW co-promotional Pay-Per-View is very much still alive and well for the fans who either watched along from home or were lucky enough to make it out to the United Center in Chicago. The card had long-term storytelling, newfound rivalries, and made more […]

When the men formerly known as Daniel Bryan and The Big Show made an appearance on RAW, at least via video package, to wish John Cena well on 20 years with WWE, it felt like only a matter of time before Chris Jericho, “La Champion” of AEW, found his way back onto the Titantron to […]

When John Cena debuted in WWE 20 years ago, AEW wasn’t a thing. Many of the promotion’s biggest stars, and some of their commentators too, were employed by companies like TNA, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and yes, WWE, where they built up legacies worthy of a place in wrestling history. So, when a promotion like […]

Adam Cole wasn’t 100 percent healthy heading into AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door. He reportedly suffered a labrum injury which kept him out of much of the lead-up to Forbidden Door and in the Co-Main Event of the biggest co-promotional effort of the year, the native son of Lancaster, Pennsylvania suffered what looked like a […]

Forbidden Door is officially over. AEW and NJPW officially pulled it off and while the event didn’t go on without a hitch, as both Dax Harwood and Adam Cole suffered injuries during their matches, it’s hard to call the show anything but a resounding success both in the ring and on the financial ledger. Jon […]

Wrestling, regardless of whether it’s done in an AEW, WWE, or any other ring, is built on feuds. AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door was chocked full of intriguing in-ring battles between performers who have been passing like ships in the night for years – Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi – white-hot, livewire rivalries between an […]

In the afterglow of AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door, Tony Khan had a lot to say. He talked about FTR’s new music, how Claudio Castagnoli ended up in the promotion, and notably chose not to talk about MJF, but sandwiched inside his post-PPV media scrum was a nugget of information that will make fans of […]

The AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door main event between Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi was one hell of a match. The two wrestlers put on a bloody good show in front of the fans. However, it seemed like two fans decided they wanted their own mini-match during the main event. During the Moxley-Tanahashi main event, […]

FTR is riding pretty high right about now following their big win at AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door. Despite a scare early on in the three-way championship match alongside Roppongi Vice, and the United Empire duo of Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan, where Dax Harwood had to be taken backstage to tape up his shoulder, the […]

One of the most popular WWE stars finally made his debut on Forbidden Door. After an unfortunate injury to Bryan Danielson, Tony Khan tapped Claudio Castagnoli (FKA Cesaro) to join AEW in their latest pay-per-view. Castagnoli’s entrance was met with a humongous pop, as wrestling fans were excited to see the Swiss wrestling in a […]

Jon Moxley entered AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door with a lot to prove but also nothing to prove at the very same time. If he won the main event of Forbidden Door and became the Interim AEW World Championship then great; that would make him the first-ever two-time champion in the promotion’s history and he’d […]

Did the ending of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match at AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door look a little weird to you? Did, after an extended build-up and a growing crescendo towards what should have been an ending worthy of firecrackers, Jay White’s decision to slither back into the ring, take out Kazuchika Okada with […]

AEW x NJPW‘s Forbidden Door didn’t have one main event, but two. Though many a fan of AEW wanted nothing more than to see who would leave the United Center with the Interim AEW World Championship Belt and eventually earn a match with a returning CM Punk, the four-way bout for the IWGP World Heavyweight […]

Will Ospreay successfully defended his IWGP United States Championship and immediately gained a new challenger. NJPW star Katsuyori Shibata made a shocking appearance, saving Orange Cassidy from a post-match beat-down. Shibata came down to the ring to a thunderous ovation from the United Center crowd and aided Cassidy in fending off Ospreay and Aussie Open. […]

In the end, if Bryan Danielson’s replacement versus Zack Sabre Jr. was anyone other than the man formerly known as Cesaro, fans of AEW, NJPW, and wrestling as a whole – though maybe not Max Dupri – would have been massively disappointed. Why? Well, for one thing, Cesaro, who has reverted to his indie/real name […]

Forbidden Door has promised a ton of outstanding moments, and it definitely hasn’t disappointed. Former WWE superstar Cesaro made his AEW debut as Bryan Danielson’s replacement against Zack Sabre Jr. Danielson missed the match due to injuries, and will also miss AEW’s Blood and Guts edition of Dynamite on Wednesday. Cesaro will also take Danielson’s […]

Goodness, if you had Orange Cassidy versus Will Ospreay on your match of the year prediction bingo card then you, my friend, are in luck, as the duo came out to the ring in their usual styles, began the match with their hands in their respective pockets, and turned in one of the best matches […]

As you may or may not know, New Japan Wrestling doesn’t have a women’s division. While they do work closely with Stardom and have had women’s championship matches on shows they have promoted before, their co-promotion with AEW presented fans in Japan with a rare opportunity to see Thunder Rosa go against one of her […]

One of Bullet Club’s newest members made a shocking appearance at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. Former IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson appeared in a backstage segment. AEW commentator Tony Schiavone and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion “Switchblade” Jay White joined Robinson backstage. Robinson cut off Schiavone’s intro to proclaim the “little soiree” later on […]

The Young Bucks haven’t been associated with the Bullet Club since January of 2019, when they officially left New Japan to join the company they helped to start alongside Kenny Omega, Tony Khan, and… some other guy: AEW. And yet, you can take the Bucks out of the Club, but you can’t take the Bullet […]

PAC has been a member of AEW since the beginning, debuting at All Out 2019 well before the promotion had a weekly television show or employed wrestlers like CM Punk, Miro, or FTR. Though he’s wrestled in a few big matches, recorded signature moments, and even had a few title shots, he’s never held a […]

When AEW’s Dax Harwood came up gingerly from a move early on in FTR’s three-way match with Roppongi Vice and NJPW’s United Empire tag team of Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan, it looked like the end of what could have been a guaranteed 5-star match. Harwood rolled under the ropes with Cash Wheeler following close behind […]

On paper, an AEW pairing of Chris Jericho and Minoru Suzuki doesn’t make much sense. They’re like making a bathing suit out of silk or dipping apple slices into fish sauce – two good things are good on their own but seemingly incompatible together. But in the ring, melded together into a make-shift trios tag […]

It’s here, it’s finally here: AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door has officially arrived. Soon, fans will trickle into the United Center, the lights will dim then rise, and nine matches – plus four more on the pre-show – will take place with hundreds of thousands of fans watching in utter disbelief that Tony Khan was […]

Fans have been wanting to see Johnny Gargano in an AEW ring since he initially became a free agent back in December of 2021 and time and time again, they have been let down. Mystery arrival at a Pay-Per-View?  Hasn’t been Gargano. Suprise arrival at a home state show in Ohio? Hasn’t happened either. Heck, […]

AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door is a card for the ages. With nine matches on the books and 28 wrestlers – and counting – set to compete for seven different championship belts, fans will find themselves entertained for hours once the show officially goes underway at 8 pm EST. But hey, just because the Pay-Per-View […]

While the phrase “Forbidden Door” was initially just a fun little phrase coined by NJPW Star Hiroshi Tanahashi, it has since become a title for multiple people in the industry, including Tony Khan himself, the symbol of cross-promotional matches and angles, and an incoming collaborative pay-per-view between New Japan and AEW. Oh, and if recent […]

Blake Christian has wrestled in AEW on two occasions, both of which occurred at Dark tapings in Orlando, Florida. Though he has secured a win in the promotion, besting Rohit Raju in a match televised via Youtube on March 3rd of 2022, Christian, who was known as Trey Baxter during his limited run in NXT, […]

When FTR opted to leave WWE to pursue wrestling opportunities outside of the promotion, it was never supposed to be AEW or bust. Sure, most everyone expected to see the team formerly known as The Revival make their way to Tony Khan’s promotion, as he’s the biggest paying game in town outside of The Fed, […]

AEW has a lot of things going for it as a promotion: A deep roster – despite numerous injuries currently plaguing them – generally good to great to incredible in-ring work, and of course, a solid music department. While yes, Chris Jericho’s “Judas” will always get entire arenas singing the verse and chorus, and Tony […]